Wainscoting.



C. B. ALLEN.

WAINSCOTING.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

CHESTER B. ALLEN, OF JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE.

WAINSCOTING.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER B. ALLEN, of Johnson City, in the county of Washington and in the State of Tennessee, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in l/Vainscoting, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had. to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a pers ective view of a section of wainscoting em odying my invention; Fig. 2 a vertical section thereof on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a horizontal section on the line 3--3 of FiO. 1; and Fig.. 4 a horizontal section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

The object of my invention is to enable Wainscoting to be applied to walls so that practically all the nails or other securing means will be invisible, and which will be economical in respect to the amount of material required, as well as in labor in erecting it, and which may be satisfactorily applied in buildings already erected as well as in buildings being erected.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, I employ a base board 10, having at its bottom at the front corner a Cprojecting floor strip 11, which enables the a aptation of the base board to any slant or inequality of thc floor which may be a matter of special importance in an old building, and which in its upper edge has a longitudinally extending groove formed by two vertical front and rear flanges 12 and 13, respectively, the rear flange being wider or higher than the front flange, and through it nails are driven to secure the base board to the wall. The base board being secured in lace, vertical stiles 14, having in each ec ge a vertical groove formed by front and rear vertical flanges 15 and 16, respectively, and having at their lower ends tenons 17, are placed upon the base board with their tenons in the groove in the top thereof, and their bottoms resting upon the u per edges of thc base board flanges 12 an 13. The rear flanges of the stiles, like the rear flange of the base board, are wider than the front flanges of the Stiles, and also for the purpose of receiving the securing nails or screws by which the.

Stiles are fastened to the wall. Those vertical stiles which come next to door or window frames have their rear flanges next said frames ripped off to bring the edge of the Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed .Tune 16, 1908.

Patented July 6, 1909.

Serial No. 438,793.

corresponding front flange in close contact with the frame to make a good finish. A panel 18 having a thickness corresponding with the width of the grooves in the base board and stiles, is next slid downward between a pair of Stiles with its end edges fitting the grooves in opposite stiles, and its bottom edge fitting the groovein the upper edge of the base board, and thereby the rear flanges of the stiles and base boards, and the securing nails passing therethrough being completely covered and concealed, so that the surfaces exposed are the finished outer surfaces of the base board, stiles and panel. In the case of the Wainscoting illustrated in the drawings, the panel is shorter than the vertical stiles, and over the top of the panel is slid a short cross stile 19 having at its ends tenons 20, that engage the grooves in the two opposing vertical stiles and having in its lower edge a groove formed by vertical front and rear flanges, the rear flange being wider than the front flange for the reception of securing nails and having in its upper edge a groove likewise formed by front and rear vertical flanges with the rear flange higher than the front flange for the use of securing nails or screws, and in the groove in the upper edge is slid a panel 21 corresponding in thickness and horizontal dimension with the panel 18, the upper edge of said panel being flush with the top of a tenon 22 at the upper end of each of the vertical stiles.

The top of the wainscoting is finished off by the employment of a rail which may serve as a plate rail. In `making said rail, I use a bar or rail 23 having in its lower edge a longitudinal groove formed by front and rear vertical flanges 24 and 25, respectively, the rear flange being wider than the front flange, which groove fits over the top edge ofthe top panel and the tenons on the tops of the vertical stiles. To the top of said rail 28 is secured as by nailing, a forwardly extending strip 26 which overhangs the front of the rail and gives the necessary width required for a late rail, and in the corner or angle thus formed l place a filling strip 27 which is secured by small nails, and which may be used to cover nails driven through the rails 23 into the wall. Although these nails in the strip 27 are driven from the outside, their heads are inconspicuous, and more especially so because of the shadow cast by the overhanging top strip 26. The nails through said i'illing strip and those which are used to secure the loor strip to the base board, are the only nails used in the entire structure which are visible from the outside, so that I have a wainscoting that is secured in place by practically blind nailing, and yet it is secured with all required strength and rigidity. Only a minimum of material is required due to my manner of securing the structure to the wall and assembling its parts, and the work of erection does not require labor of special skill, and it can be most rapidly carried on. The parts of the wainscoting may be constructed according to established standards, and by the employment of the so-ealled unit system, so that the wainseoting can be carried in stock, a thing of value because of eheapening manufacture as well as enabling the prompt filling of orders, and the wainscoting is shipped in a knocked-down eondition.

lt Will be understood that the design may be greatly varied, both as to the proportions and numbers of the panels, without departure from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- A wainscoting comprising horizontal and vertical members that are applied directly to the wall and provided with longitudinally extending grooves formed by front and back ilanges, the back flanges being wider than the front flanges, panels slid into said grooves, the rear llanges being adapted to receive the fastening means, a horizontally extending finishing rail having in its under side a longitudinally extending panel and tenen-engage ing groove, said rail having a forwardlyextending strip that overhangs the front of the rail, fastening nails for the finishing rail, and a strip covering said nails situated in the angle between the rail and its forwardly projecting strip, and being overhung by said rail strip, and nails securing said filling strip to the rail.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

CHESTER B. ALLEN. lVitnesses:

CHAs. M. ALLEN, W. B. MILLER. 

